since 1957

About
Hanscomb

History

1700s

Hanscomb is able to trace its roots as far back as the 1700s and has on record an estimate prepared in 1790 by master builders/architects John Hanscomb and Richard Fothergill. John Hanscomb was the great, great, great…grandfather of Geoffrey Hanscomb, our founder.
More on our founder

The estimate shown below is for renovation work to the Fetcham Park House, a Queen Anne mansion nestled in the Surrey countryside of England. It was designed by English architect William Talman and built in 1705. The property changed owners many times and went through several additions, renovations and conversions over the past four centuries. At the time John Hanscomb was engaged, the Fetcham Park House was owned by banker Thomas Hankey who added two curved wings at the north and south ends. Today the house still stands and has been restored to its original splendor functioning as prestigious office and event space.

Serving the construction industry since 1957

Do you remember what the 1950s were like? We do. We’ve been serving the construction industry since 1957. Sure, most of our cost planning professionals were born well after Hanscomb first planted roots in Toronto, Canada. But we all have the same passion for serving our clients and providing the type of services that help improve the bottom line for the construction industry.

That’s how it is today. That’s how it was at the beginning. But the 1950s were a very different time for the construction industry. And Canada was a very different place.

The industry
needed Hanscomb

The industry was a well-oiled machine, primed perfectly for what it needed to do. But Geoffrey Hanscomb had the foresight to see that the industry could benefit from quantity surveying. The construction industry was about to change. The industry needed Hanscomb. They just didn’t know it yet.

It was a tough sell, to be honest. Quantity surveying was very different in 1957 when Geoffrey arrived in Canada from London. Computers didn’t exist. Project management was pretty much Greek to everyone. And important cost-planning strategies like lifecycle costing that we all take for granted today hadn’t yet been established as best practices.

We look forward to the next 60 years, responding to an ever-changing construction industry and leveraging our expertise to keep costs in line.

Our Founder

Geoffrey Hanscomb, son of an architect and great, great, great…grandson of John Hanscomb, a builder in London in the 1700’s, instinctively found his way to a career as a Quantity Surveyor.

Geoffrey’s career and roots were in London, England but his passion took him all over the world. By the 1950’s Geoffrey started recruiting Quantity Surveyors for projects in West Africa doing war damage claim estimates in Ghana and Nigeria after World War 2. Geoffrey encouraged young West Africans to come to London and qualify as professional Quantity Surveyors. This benevolent act paid off for these men when the former colonies became independent.

As business in West Africa matured, the firm sought new opportunities. One of his partners, Peter Gardner, had done his wartime RAF training in Canada. Deciding this to be their next location, they set up shop in Toronto in 1957 at 1999 Bay Street, providing estimating services.

 

Geoffrey Arthur Hanscomb

August 1917 - February 2014

Leadership Team

All Leadership
All employees
Executive Committee
Management Board
Regional Manager
 members

Susan Neil

B.Sc., B.Tech., PQS(F), MRICS President

Arthur J. Maw

PQS(F), MRICS, Chief Executive Officer

Dale Panday

B. Tech., B.A., PQS Executive Vice President

Isaac Gwendo

BA (Bldg Econ), PQS Executive Vice President

Craig Bye

PQS(F), MRICS Executive Vice President

Raymond Murray

PQS, MRICS Vice President

Tyler Keizer

CPA CA, Director of Finance

Brian McBurney

PQS Director, Senior Cost Consultant and Scheduler

Bob Picken

PQS, GSC Director and Senior Cost Consultant

Dominic Kiema

M.Sc., PQS Manager and Senior Cost Consultant

Ken King

PQS, MRICS, AScT Manager and Senior Cost Consultant

Nathan Thinagarippillai

B. Sc., PQS, MRICS Manager, Senior Cost Consultant

Murugan Thambiayah

B.SC (QS), PQS, MRICS, Manager, Mechanical & Electrical, Toronto

Melissa Trautmann

Arch. Dipl. T., PQS, Manager, Senior Cost Consultant

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